Service door for refrigerator display cases



Sept. 15, 1953 E. SWEDMAN EI'AL SERVICE DOOR FOR REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY CASES Filed May 17. 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Hermon J. Srrobush By Enoch Swedmun fiwmsm;

Fia. 1

Sept. 15, 1953 E. SWEDMAN ETAL SERVICE DOOR FOR REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY CASES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17. 1948 I INVENTORR Her-mun J. Srrobush gEndch Swedmcm Sept. 15, 1953 E. SWEDMAN ETAL SERVICE DOOR FOR REFRIGERATOR DISBLAY CASES Filed May 17. 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fie. 4

INVENTOR. Hermon J. Sirobush y Enoch 5we dmcm Patented Sept. 15, 1953 SERVICE 'nooR FOR REFRIGERATOR DISPEAY CASES Enoch Swedman' and Herman J.

Paul, Minn.,. assignors to Strobush, St. Seeger Refrigerator Company, StQPaul, Minn.

Application May 17, 1948, SerialNo. 27516 2 Claims. i

our invention relatestoran improvement. in

service door for refrigerator display cases where? in it is desired to provide a door which may be. quickly and easily operated. and. which will give access to a large portion of the interior of the case.

Refrigerator display cases are usuallyprovided with laterally sliding doors: for closing-the rear side thereof. These sliding doors aresomewhat troublesome to operate in view of the fact that lateral movement of onedoorgives access to only part of the case and both doors must be moved to take merchandise from the next adjacent portion of the case. For this reason time andeffort is required in operating the doors, delaying service to customers and requiring considerable unnecessary effort.

Theobject of the present invention lies in the provision of a door which is slidably-and tiltably supported at the rear side'of a refrigerator display-case-so that the door may be moved into positionimmediately beneath the top of the case and substantially parallel thereto. In this position'the door is entirely out of the way and renders accessible the entire area of the display case forwardly of the window. Furthermore, in the event the display case is provided with a pluralityof doors, it is not necessary to move both doors in order to gain accessto a selectedportion of the case interior.

A feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a door supported by suitable rolling supports at opposite ends of the door. One such rolling support is provided at the upper edge of the door and the second support is located near the vertical center of the door. door, these supports roll along uide rails to tilt the door into tion;

A feature of the the provision of a counter-balancing means by means of which the effortrequired to open the door may be minimized. A flexible means is connected to the center of the window. This flexible means is connectedto a spring anchor. The pull upon the flexible means tends tocounterbalance the weight of the window.

A feature of the present invention lies in the location of the rollers supporting the window. One roller of the window is secured thereto near the upper edge thereof, While the second roller is located between the upper and lower ends of the window when it is in closed position; Thus the lower edge of the window may swing-upwardsuitable shaped horizontal posipresent invention resides in In opening the 1y andrearwardly in the movement of the window intoopen position.

An added feature of the present invention lies in the provision of a means for holding, the window shut, in closedposition. The track supporting the roller at the-upper edge of the window is provided with an indentation into which the roller extends in closed position of the window. Movement of' the. roller into this indentation tends to clamp the window firmly against its frame, thus forming a tight. closure.

These andother objects-andnovel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of our specification:

Figure -1 is a top plan view of a refrigerator display case showing the construction thereof.

Figure 2 is a sectionalview through the refri erator display case showing the window supports and operating mechanism.

Figure 3 is an elevation view of a portion of one end of the display case and window.

Figure 4 is a sectional view through a portion of the display caseythe position of thesection be ing indicated: by theline l'- l of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional. View through a portion of the display case, the; position of. thesection being" indicated. by'theline 5-5' of- Figure. 3.

Figure 6 is an. enlarged View of a portion. of oneof the window supporting tracks, theview showing the detail construction thereof.

The display cabinet A illustrated in thedrawingsmay be of any desired: or suitable form and is shown as having a top I 0, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined window in the frontof the case, and an upwardly and-forwardly 'in clined window [2 in the rear side of thecase; It is this window I2 and the means of supporting the same with which the presentinvention is particularly concerned. The ends of the case are closed bysuitableendwalls l3. The bottom portion of the cabinet maybe of any suitable design or-construction. The cabinet is designed to hold merchandise in display position. Access to the interior ofthe display case may .be obtained through the rear window l2.

The case A is provided" with a window opening ld in' which'the window or. door I2 is supported. A gasket I5 is. supported on the outer surface of the opening. I4 along the lower edge thereof which is designed to seal against. the window or door 12. in closedpositiom- Theupper end. of. the door openingis providedawithra downwardly projecting lip le h a gasket [1 on its inner or forward surface. This gasket i1 is designed to bear against the outer surface of the window or door 12 in closed posi- A track I9 is supported at each end of the refrigerator cabinet spaced somewhat from the top H] of the cabinet. This track 19 includes a side wall 23 designed to lie against the end wall of the cabinet A, a bottom flange 21 projecting toward the center of the cabinet from the end wall I3, and at substantially right angles to the side wall 26. The track also includes an upwardly extending flange 22 on the inner edge of the bottom flange 2| so as to hold the door supporting rollers engaged on the track. A laterally extending top flange 23 extends over the door supporting rollers to assist in holding the rollers in place. An upwardly extending flange 24 may be provided on the top 23.

A pair of rollers 25 are mounted upon supporting pins 26 secured to the opposite ends of the window frame 21 of the door l2. As shown in Figure 4 of the drawings the supporting pins 26 are held in place by mounting plates 29 extending along the vertical side edges of the door 12. The rollers 25 preferably include a sleeve 36 and an outer race 31 which are rotatably connected by ball bearings 32. Thus the outer race 3! of each roller 25 may rotate freely relative to the sleeve portion 33 of the roller. The rollers 25 roll toward and away from the forward side of the refrigerator as the door opens and closes.

A second track 33 is mounted on each end wall 13 of the refrigerator beneath the track 19. Each track 33 includes an inclined bearing portion 34 which lies inwardly of the lower portion of the window frame 21 in closed position of the window. Somewhat below the center of the door 12, the track 33 is provided with an off-set portion 35 which extends toward the forward side of the refrigerator. This off-set or dwell portion 35 is connected by a gradually sloping forwardly and upwardly inclined track portion 36. At a point spaced the track 33 is provided with a second off-set or dwell portion 31 which extends horizontally toward the forward side of the refrigerator. The track 33 terminates in an upwardly inclined end portion 39. The track 33 may be generally rectangular in cross section and does not enclose the roller which engages the same, but merely forms a bearing surface on which the door rollers may travel.

Each track 33 is engaged by a second roller 46. The second rollers 43 are mounted upon L- shaped angle brackets 4| which are secured to the inner surface of the window frame 21 to extend forwardly therefrom. The rollers include sleeve portions 42 which are held in place by pins or rivets 43 which extend through the sleeve portion 42 and through the corresponding bracket 4!. The rollers 43 also include outer rings 44 which are connected to the sleeve portions 42 by ball bearings 45. The outer rings 44 rotate relative to the sleeves in the operation of the rollers. As indicated in the drawings the door 12 comprises a rectangular channel shaped frame which encloses a, pair of spaced panels 46 and 41 of glass. The panels 46 and 41 are spaced by a gasket member 49. Obviously the construction of the door is not of utmost importance in the present invention. A handle 50 may be mounted on the lower portion of the frame 21 by means of which the window may from its upper extremity, r

be manipulated. If desired a plurality of such handles may be provided.

The upper edge of the frame 21 is equipped with a clip 5| forming a means of connection between the door 12 and a flexible cord or cable 52. The cable 52 extends through a pulley 53 supported interiorly of the display cabinet above the front display window II. The end of the cable 52 is connected by a fastener 54 to a tape 55. The tape 55 extends into a spring reel 56 mounted at one end of the cabinet. The spring reel 56 exerts a pull upon the tape 55 tending to wind this tape upon the reel. This pull acts as a counter-balance for the door 12 to reduce the energy necessary to open the door l2.

In closed position the door 12 is in sealed relation to the door opening 14 and acts to close this opening. When it is desired to open the door for access to the interior of the display cabinet, the handle 50 is engaged and the lower end of the door 12 is swung upwardly. The upward pull upon the handle 56 starts the rollers 25' moving forwardly in the tracks I9. The

rollers 40 roll up the inclined portion 36 of the tracks 33. This movement continues until the rollers 40 engage the off-set portions 31 of the tracks 33. When in this position the door i2 is in substantially horizontal position immediately below the cabinet top l6 and above the level of the window II. The brackets 4| are of sufficient length to hold the window horizontal when the rollers are engaged with the off-set portion 31.

When it is desired to close the door 12, a downward force is exerted upon the handle 56, the door swinging downwardly into closed position. During this motion the rollers 40 roll down the inclined portion 36 of each track 33 and the rollers 25 roll rearwardly in the tracks 19.

As indicated in Figure 6 of the drawings the bottom flange 21 of each track I9 is provided with an indentation 51 near the rear end of the track. The rollers 25 roll into this indentation as the door approaches closed position. The inclined wall of the indentation tends to act in the manner of a cam to urge the rollers 25 rearwardly, thus urging the upper edge of the door against its gasket 11. Furthermore, the cam action of the indentations 51 tend to urge the lower edge of the window frame inwardly against the gasket 15, the rollers 46 acting as fulcrums. Thus the indentations 51 are an important part of the present invention.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described the principles of construction and operation of our service door for refrigerator display cases, and while we have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, we desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. A refrigerator displa case door mounting for a refrigerator cabinet having an elongated door opening, a gasket extending along the outer surface of said cabinet adjacent the lower edge of said opening, a gasket extending along the inner surface of the cabinet adjacent the upper edge of said door opening, a door engageable against said gaskets, and door supporting means including first and second pairs of rollers, said first rollers being supported in axial alignment near opposite ends of the door near the upper edge thereof, a substantially horizontal first track upper edge of the in said cabinet at each end of said door on which said first rollers are supported, said first track being provided with a downwardly sloping cam portion adjacent the door opening, said second rollers being secured in axial alignment to opposite ends of said door intermediate the top and bottom edges thereof, and a second track at each end of said door within said cabinet, said second track being upwardly inclined to guide the lower edge of the door upwardly as the door moves horizontally, and said second track having a horizontal lower end portion acting to substantially support the'weight of the door in closed position thereof, whereby the downwardly sloping cam portion will urge the first rollers outwardly to thereby cause pivoting of said door about the horizontal lower portion of said second track to thereby urge said door into engagement with both named gaskets.

2. In a refrigerator display case door mounting for a refrigerator cabinet having an elongated door opening, a door, and door supporting means including first and second pairs of rollers, said first rollers being supported in axial alignment near opposite ends of the door near the upper edge thereof, a substantially horizontal first track in said cabinet at each end of said door on which said first rollers are supported, said first track being provided with a downwardly sloping cam portion adjacent the door opening, said second rollers being secured in axial alignment to opposite ends of said door intermediate the top and bottom edges thereof, and a second track at each end of said door within said cabinet, said second track being upwardly inclined to guide the lower edge of the door upwardly as the upper edge of the door moves horizontally, a door engaging member on said cabinet outwardly of the upper portion of the window and a second door engaging portion on said cabinet inwardly of the lower portion of the door, whereby said cam portions of said first track will urge said first rollers outwardly as it closes to pivot said door about the axes of said second rollers to urge the door against both of said door engaging surfaces.

ENOCH SWEDMAN.

HERMAN J. STROBUSH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,115,345 Steuernagel Oct. 27, 1914 1,175,887 Miller Mar. 14, 1916 1,327,977 Bennington Jan, 13, 1920 1,855,953 Friedrich Apr. 26, 1932 1,963,089 Henderson June 19, 1934 2,148,735 Eeinung Feb. 28, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 398,619 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1933 

